Creative Arts and Dementia

Whilst an array of organisations and practitioners currently use and
develop creative therapies for people with dementia, they are rarely reported
and are often not publicised. The Association for Dementia Studies has been
laying the foundations for building research in this area.

Professor Dawn Brooker, Director of ADS, has a long-standing practice
and research interest in creative activity and dementia. She worked in partnership
with the ExtraCare Charitable Trust to develop the Enriched Opportunities
Programme as a means of engaging people with dementia through activity and
occupation (Brooker et al, 2007; 2011). This proved to significantly improve
quality of life, decrease depression and decrease hospitalisations for people
living with dementia.

Then, in early 2015, the
Alzheimer’s Society funded eight Doctoral Training Centres in various
aspects of dementia to help to increase research knowledge and capacity in this
vital and TAnDem
is the name of the Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) that has been funded to focus
on studying The Arts and Dementia. This is a partnership between the
Association for Dementia Studies at the University of Worcester and the Centre
for Dementia, University of Nottingham and this topic was chosen because without greater knowledge and evidence about the arts and
dementia, people living with dementia and their families cannot make informed
choices. It is difficult for service providers and artists to help people with
dementia and their carers to live well with dementia, as commissioners cannot
justify expenditure on arts-as-interventions. The TAnDem PhD studentships are
designed to remedy this gap in scientific knowledge and understanding. All of
the proposed studentships will have a common focus on advancing knowledge about
the impact of engagement with creative activities on people with all stages of
dementia and on their family and professional carers. Please see the relevant
webpages for details of students and topics, supervisors and management team. One
unique aspect of TAnDem is that it offers the complementary resources of two
universities to all the PhD candidates.

For details of other current and past research please go to the relevant tabs.